Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The quiet ambiance of the underground cavern felt far removed from the violent realities of the Ferine Realm. Li Yu stood before the throne of woven roots and offered a bow of respect to Elder Mu. Zhan stood a half step behind him with his scythe arms resting casually at his sides.

Thornwood stepped forward from the shadows of the tunnel and the ent commander held out a scroll made from pale and smooth bark.

"Here is the map you requested." Thornwood said. His smooth voice carried a tone of hospitality. "My scribes have marked the safe corridors, the known borders of the sixteen rulers and the general layout of the coastal domains. It should guide you well through the wild."

Li Yu took the bark scroll and secured it within his spatial ring. "Thank you, Thornwood. This will save us an immense amount of time and danger. I am deeply grateful for the hospitality you and your forces have shown us over the past seven days."

Elder Mu let out a soft and resonant chuckle from his throne.

"You do not need to thank us, young Li Yu." Elder Mu smiled. His glowing green eyes radiated a paternal warmth. "You helped to save my life. Providing a safe place to rest and a simple map is the very least I can do. However, I cannot let you leave my domain with only a piece of bark."

The ancient tree raised his remaining arm and he reached toward his own chest, specifically toward the fresh green bark covering his heart chamber.

He inserted his long and braided wooden fingers directly into his own chest. He did not flinch in pain though. A moment later, he pulled his hand back out. Resting in the center of his wooden palm was a single but radiant fruit.

It was roughly the size of an apple but it did not look like normal fruit. It was translucent and glowing with a brilliant emerald light. Swirling veins of golden sap ran through the center of it, pulsing in time with Elder Mu’s own heartbeat. The ambient Qi in the cavern immediately surged toward the fruit and was drawn by its staggering purity.

"This is a Heartwood Fruit." Elder Mu explained while holding the offering forward. "It is grown from the deepest core of my being. It contains a concentrated portion of my vital essence. Consuming this will heavily enhance your physical body and nourish your soul power. It is a treasure that takes me quite some time to condense."

Li Yu looked at the glowing fruit and his eyes widened in surprise. The energy radiating from the small object was intoxicating. He could feel the Life Qi within his own meridians vibrating in eager response. Despite the incredible temptation, Li Yu shook his head and took a step back.

"I cannot accept this, Senior." Li Yu said firmly. "This is far too precious for what I have done. You are still recovering from a grievous wound and should be the one to take it. Giving away a thousand years of your vital essence right now could harm your foundation. The hospitality and the map are more than enough reward for the small assistance I provided."

Elder Mu let out a heavy sigh as he lowered his hand slightly and his expression shifted into one of sorrowful disappointment.

"Do you truly view your actions as small assistance?" Elder Mu asked softly. "You broke the gravity lock that was crushing my meridians. If you had not intervened, Gorr’s residual laws would have slowly suffocated my core. You gave me back my future. To refuse my gift is to say my life is not worth this fruit."

Li Yu felt a pang of guilt from the tree’s words. He did not want to insult the ancient ruler.

"I did not mean to offend you, Senior." Li Yu clarified quickly. "I simply do not wish to hinder your recovery."

"You will not hinder me." Elder Mu assured him with a warm smile returning to his bark face. "My roots draw from the deep earth veins. I will recover my strength in due time. I insist you take this. Consider it a token of friendship between yourself and this sanctuary. Having someone offer help in a time of need should be rewarded."

Li Yu looked at Zhan and the mantis offered a subtle nod, indicating that refusing a supreme ruler twice was a fast way to turn a friend into an enemy in this realm.

"Then I will graciously accept your gift." Li Yu said while reaching out and taking the Heartwood Fruit from the ancient tree. The skin of the fruit felt warm to the touch and hummed with vibrant energy. "I will store it away and consume it when I reach a bottleneck in my cultivation."

"No, that wouldn’t be wise." Elder Mu interjected swiftly. He held up his hand to stop Li Yu from putting the fruit into his spatial ring. "You must not store it away. You should consume it right here and right now."

Li Yu paused and looked at the ancient ruler in confusion. "Why is that, Senior?"

"The energy within that fruit is incredibly dense." Elder Mu explained with a serious tone. "It contains Tribulation level essence after all. For a cultivator at the Law Integration realm, swallowing that much raw power without proper guidance can be highly dangerous. The surging Qi could rupture your meridians or overwhelm your body."

Elder Mu gestured to a flat and moss covered root a few yards away from the throne.

"Sit there and consume it." Elder Mu offered kindly. "I am the master of that essence. If the energy begins to run wild inside your body, I can use my domain to suppress it and guide the flow safely into your foundation. Once you have absorbed it, you will be much stronger and far better prepared to face the aquatic beasts of the south east."

Li Yu thought about the logic behind it and it made sense. Absorbing the core essence of a Tribulation realm entity was a massive risk for someone at his level. Having the original owner of the energy sitting nearby to act as a safety valve was an opportunity he could not pass up.

Furthermore, Li Yu had no reason to suspect foul play from what he had seen and heard about Elder Mu. He had spent a week in this peaceful utopia and he had seen predators and prey living in harmony. He had listened to the beasts weeping for their injured sovereign. Elder Mu was a tragic hero who had sacrificed his mobility to protect the weak of this realm.

'He is offering to protect my cultivation while I absorb his gift.' Li Yu thought to himself. 'It would be foolish to refuse such a safe environment.'

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"You are very considerate, Senior." Li Yu smiled and bowed his head. "I will do as you suggest."

Li Yu walked over to the flat root and sat down in a meditative lotus position. He held the glowing emerald fruit in both hands and took a deep breath to steady his mind. Zhan stood a short distance away and watched the process with keen interest. The mantis was eager to see how much power the human would gain from such a treasure.

As Li Yu closed his eyes and prepared his meridians, Elder Mu sat quietly on his woven throne. The ancient ruler maintained his warm and benevolent smile. But behind the mask of smooth bark, a cold and ruthless anticipation was boiling over.

Elder Mu watched the human boy sit willingly on the root. The ancient tree remembered the careful and meticulous planning he had executed over the past seven days.

[Three days ago]

The central cavern was dark and silent. The pools of golden sap were dim as Elder Mu sat on his throne and let out a violent and hacking cough. Dark, rotting wood splintered from his lips and fell onto the cavern floor.

Thornwood knelt by the throne and the ent commander looked up at his sovereign with deep concern.

"The human's Life Qi stabilized your outer shell." Thornwood rumbled quietly. "But the rot in your soul is accelerating. Gorr's attack weakened your core foundation too much. You do not have much time left before the long sleep takes you permanently."

Elder Mu wiped the dark rot from his face. His glowing green eyes were filled with a vicious and desperate light.

"I am aware, Thornwood." Elder Mu hissed. His voice was stripped of all its benevolent warmth. It was sharp, cruel and filled with ancient malice. "I rooted myself in this miserable valley to gain power but this prison of earth is finally killing me. I need a new vessel and I want mobility."

"The boy is a great candidate." Thornwood noted. "His Life Qi affinity is strong. His physical body is strong as well, it would be able to withstand the transfer. And his soul power is vast."

"He is a gift from the heavens." Elder Mu sneered. "But he is cautious. If I attempt to take his body by force, his struggles could damage the vessel. We must ensure he welcomes my essence with open arms. He thinks that he was actually able to help me heal with his pathetic cultivation but I only made it appear that way so he wouldn’t question why we are treating him so nicely."

"The tours are working." Thornwood reported. "My guides have shown him the peaceful caverns. We keep the minor beasts docile and well fed. The fool looks upon this sanctuary with awe that such a place could exist in this realm. His guard is dropping lower every day."

Elder Mu let out a dry and grating laugh.

"He thinks I am some sort of hero." Elder Mu mocked. "He looks at my rooted form with pity. He truly believes I sacrificed my freedom to save a few pathetic animals and trees from the wild. Emotions are the chain that binds the strong to the weak. We will use his naive morality to string him up."

Elder Mu reached into his chest and grabbed a cluster of his own vital roots. He pulled hard and tore a piece of his core away. He ignored the agonizing pain as he began to mold the glowing green wood into the shape of a fruit.

"I will condense my remaining vital essence into this Heartwood Fruit." Elder Mu explained while bleeding golden sap onto his hands. "But beneath the surface of it, I will plant the seed of my own soul. It will be a parasite."

Thornwood watched as the ancient ruler wove his dark and rotting intent into the center of the glowing fruit.

"When he swallows it, the massive amount of energy will flood his body." Elder Mu continued as his eyes gleamed with sinister delight. "He will open his meridians wide to accept the gift and he will have to focus on the task of absorption and control. And the moment he does, my soul parasite will strike. It will disable his physical control and pave the way for my true soul to leave this dying husk and enter his mind."

Elder Mu held up the glowing fruit. It looked beautiful and radiant, a perfect deception.

"I will finally be free." Elder Mu whispered. "I will walk out of this valley in a young and vibrant body. I will then eventually conquer the other rulers and I will tear Gorr limb from limb if he still draws breath. Make sure the human is treated like a king until the final day. A happy sacrifice is an easy sacrifice."

[Present Time]

Elder Mu pulled his mind out of the memory. He looked down at Li Yu who was still holding the Heartwood Fruit.

The trap was set. The human had swallowed the benevolent facade hook, line and sinker. The ent guards standing in the tunnel entrances remained perfectly still and were ready to lock down the cavern the moment the transfer began. Thornwood stood near the throne and his glowing green eyes were fixed on the boy.

"Whenever you are ready, Li Yu." Elder Mu said. His voice was a masterful performance of gentle encouragement. "Do not fear the energy. I am right here."

Li Yu nodded without opening his eyes. He brought the glowing emerald fruit to his lips and took a large bite. The moment it touched his tongue, the solid flesh melted into a rush of liquid energy. It tasted like sweet spring water and morning dew.

Li Yu swallowed the liquid and ate the rest of the fruit in two quick bites. Instantly, an explosion of energy erupted inside his stomach.

It was a staggering amount of Life and Wood Qi. The pure wood essence flooded outward, rushing through his veins and filling his meridians. The energy was warm and incredibly soothing. It washed over his bones and organs, nourishing his physical body and expanding his Qi reserves. Li Yu felt a euphoric high as his body greedily absorbed the Tribulation level essence.

He relaxed his internal focus as he opened the gates to his soul space to allow the beneficial energy to wash over his spirit. That was the exact moment the trap sprang. The warm and soothing Life Qi suddenly turned violently cold. The golden veins of sap running through the energy turned black and toxic.

Li Yu gasped as a freezing, agonizing pain spiked through his body. It felt as if thousands of icy needles had just pierced his spine. His physical body locked up instantly. His muscles paralyzed and his vocal cords tightened, preventing him from letting out a scream.

A massive and foreign intent ripped through his open internal gates and slammed directly into his soul space. It was the soul parasite. It carried the cold, ruthless and ancient malice of a tyrant.

Li Yu's eyes shot open as he stared in absolute horror at the throne. Elder Mu was no longer smiling. The benevolent mask of smooth bark twisted into a horrific and jagged grin. The ancient ruler’s glowing green eyes flared with a dark and hungry light.

"You fool." Elder Mu hissed. The sound was no longer warm or sorrowful. It was the grating, triumphant roar of an apex predator claiming its prey. Elder Mu raised his remaining arm and the cavern violently reacted to his command.

Massive, thick roots erupted from the earthen floor around Zhan. The mantis did not even have time to raise his arms before the heavy timber slammed into him. The roots wrapped tightly around Zhan's carapace, binding his scythe arms and pinning him securely against the cavern wall.

"Li Yu!" Zhan shouted as he struggled against the unbreakable wood.

Elder Mu ignored the mantis as the ancient ruler slumped forward on his woven throne. His physical body began to rapidly wither and the braided white wood turned grey and brittle. The fresh green bark over his chest cracked and peeled away.

Elder Mu was abandoning his physical shell altogether.

A dense and glowing orb of dark green spiritual energy pulled itself free from the dying tree. It was Elder Mu's true soul. It hovered in the air for a fraction of a second before shooting across the cavern like a bolt of lightning.

The dark soul phased straight through Li Yu's forehead and invaded his mind.

Li Yu was trapped in his own paralyzed body. The overwhelming Tribulation energy he had willingly swallowed was now holding him hostage. He felt the ancient and rotting soul of the tyrant crashing into his inner world, bringing a wave of suffocating darkness with it.

The benevolent sanctuary was a lie. The heroic sacrifice was a myth. As Elder Mu’s dark laughter echoed inside his own mind, Li Yu realized he had just handed the keys of his existence directly to a schemer.